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COLUMBIA – Since stepping on the South Carolina campus Michael Carrera has always exuded a passion for basketball.

That hasn’t always been a good thing. But, this season, it has helped catapult the Gamecocks to one of their best seasons in recent history.

“Michael is as good a teammate as I’ve been around as far as his caring for teammates his will to win, his will to work,” said USC coach Frank Martin. “The harder the moment, the taller he stands. It is just who he is. He is as loyal as the day is long.”

It is not a coincidence that Carrera is enjoying his best season as a senior in the year USC is having its most successful campaign in the Frank Martin era.

When the Gamecocks travel to Athens, Georgia to challenge the Georgia Bulldogs Tuesday night, Carrera will be their leading scorer and rebounder.

He is scoring 14 points and pulling down 11.2 rebounds per games.

Carrera is doing that while spending most of his time on the wing (although he sometimes moves to the four), position Martin has always envisioned for him.

“He has been working on his game throughout the time he has been here, throughout the years, in the offseason working on his shot so he could play on the wing, which he is doing now,” said USC junior guard Sindarius Thornwell. “He’s been good.”

Never has he been better than in USC’s last four games where he has averaged 23.75 points and 10 rebounds.

The Gamecocks posted a 3-1 record over the stretch that has allowed them to return to both the USA Today/Coaches Poll (23) and the Associated Press Poll at 25.

He scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds in a Gamecock come-from behind win over Mississippi, but had his best game statistically in a home win over Mississippi State when he scored a career-high 34 points and pulled down 15 rebounds.

There have been times when his passion and yearning for USC to be successful has been mis-channeled. That’s where Martin steps in.

“Sometimes I get mad at him and I’m not even mad at him,” said Martin. “When he sees me full of passion, he eats it up. That’s just who he is. That’s what he loves. He craves that. That’s what he loves.

“But that’s the challenge with him because he needs that, but at the same time he needs to channel that in the right direction.”

Thornwell believe it is Carrera’s passion that has allowed him to play major college basketball.

“I think that’s what gets him over the top,” said Thornwell. “He out-plays everybody, every possession.